COVID-19 outbreak forces event organizers to cancel major events

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

With the COVID-19 outbreak and heightened risk alert level forcing organisers to cancel or postpone major meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) events, the business and meetings’ industry is facing a looming shortage of venues and dates in the second half of the year. The revenues for the first half of the year will take a hit too, although it is still too early to determine the extent, organisers told. Some of the major events, including the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (Natas) travel fair and FHA-HoReCa, have already secured alternative dates, but others remain postponed until further notice. Aloysius Arlando, president of the Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (SACEOS), praised event organisers who have taken proactive steps to re-plan their calendar of events for the rest of the year and into 2021.

He said that this early engagement with venues is a good sign. This helps in better allocation and management of resources. Singapore has a good variety of venue spaces and meeting facilities that can support a full spectrum of events’ needs and requirements; event organisers will be spoilt for choice if they engage and commit early.

SingEx Holdings, which manages the Singapore Expo Convention and Exhibition Centre and its convention wing MAX Atria, said that so far, most of the events scheduled for its venues have been postponed instead of cancelled. Alvin Lim, executive director of brand and customer experience at SingEx said that this reflects a shared sentiment that the MICE industry is resilient and will bounce back from this predicament.

Rupert Owen, event director for cancelled event Geo Connect Asia 2020 said that however, Singapore is a popular location for such events, and the latter half of the year is usually packed under normal circumstances, so options for rescheduling will be even more limited this year.

One reason that his company Montgomery Asia decided to cancel the March launch of the inaugural geospatial event, instead of postponing it to later this year, was that alternative dates at suitable venues would not provide enough lead time and tear-down time for the exhibition. The launch will be in March 2021 instead.

Even if new venues and dates are available, organisers say they need to account for other similar events when rescheduling. For instance, consumer spending may not be able to support a spate of consumer shows in H2 2020, said Chua Wee Phong, executive chairman of Sphere Exhibits, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT’s publisher, Singapore Press Holdings. Exhibitors will also have to choose between shows to attend if two are held in close succession.

For some organisers like the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), which postponed its AmChams of Asia-Pacific Business Summit in March, the Singapore event is just one in a multi-country series, making it harder to reschedule one event without affecting others.

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